


Watching the Ocean in the Moonlight

by kristsune



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Clothes Sharing, Fluff, Happily Ever After AU, M/M, barnes is secretly a romantic, extreme amounts of sappiness, i just wanted to give these boys something nice, lowkey possessive barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24062530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/pseuds/kristsune
Summary: Barnes takes Carter sailing, and Carter brings a gift.
Relationships: Commander Barnes/Howard Carter (Rusty Quill Gaming)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	Watching the Ocean in the Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [felineladyy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/felineladyy/gifts).



> Carnes and Barter have absolutely stolen my brain and I cannot think about anything else. Sorry not sorry. Thank you again to the server for being a wealth of encouragement. Again this one is going to felineladyy just because most of this fic (including the title) is from their ideas sooooo. Please enjoy.

Barnes was at the helm of his ship the _ Lowry Anne _ , waiting for Howard to come back up. He went to change his shirt, and grab some brandy from their small cabin to enjoy the sunset. 

He turned at the footsteps behind him, and almost choked on his own spit. Rather than changing into one of his own shirts, Howard put on one of Barnes’ spares. It… It looked better than Barnes would have expected it to. Howard was a good bit taller than him, but lanky as all hell. The thing was really throwing Barnes through a loop, was that Howard left it as unbuttoned as Barnes himself usually did, which was almost down to his navel, but with the extra fabric it billowed out beautifully in the wind. Howard looked like he belonged on one of the covers of a Campbell book, which was an image Barnes thoroughly enjoyed. But there was another layer as to why Howard looked so good, and it took a moment for Barnes to parse it out; Howard looked that good because he was in  _ his _ shirt. 

Huh. Barnes hadn’t pegged himself as particularly possessive, but one learned new things about themselves every day. And he  _ absolutely _ wanted to see Howard in his clothes more often. 

“Don’t you have to keep an eye on where we’re going?” Howard asked as he made it back to him. 

Barnes realized he hadn’t looked away from Howard since he saw him, and he wasn’t about to start now. They weren’t too far from shore, but it was well mapped, and there were no known problem areas. “We’re not near any hazards, and I’m looking at the only thing I want to see.”

Howard would have tried to blame the blush rising up his chest and neck, (which Barnes could actually now see thanks to his own shirt) on the setting sun, or wind burn, but Barnes knew better.

Barnes smirked as Howard just shoved a glass in his hand so he could pour him some brandy, too flustered to speak. 

Which was when Barnes noticed the bottle, “That’s not the brandy I bought.”

“No, it’s not. I stole this one for us, it's much better.” Howard looked up at Barnes’ deadpan expression, “What? I wanted us to have something nice. They weren’t drinking it, it was all the way back in the cabinet.”

Barnes sighed, this was not a new conversation, and getting Howard to stop stealing was like telling water to not be wet. He just took a sip of the brandy instead, and felt his eyebrows go up into his hairline. This  _ was _ the good stuff, Barnes did not even want to know who Howard stole this from, but he was just a bit more impressed because it could not have been an easy swipe. And yes, maybe he was a little flattered that Howard would do that for them. 

“Let me get us settled for the night, then we can relax.” Barnes lashed two looped ropes over the spokes to hold the wheel fast, and proceeded to take in their sails, and prepare the other small things he needed to, to ready for a night on the sea. 

The _ Lowry Anne  _ was just a small ketch, but she was his, he earned her. Barnes had always loved the sea; it was why he had joined the navy, he knew it was going to be the only way he’d be able to have a ship of his own. He worked hard to become a Commander, to do just that. Then the world went to shit, and he lost it all. Then, against all odds, they saved the world. Things were still a mess, and there was a lot of cleaning up to do, but Barnes had  _ earned _ this, earned having a ship of his own, and someone to share it with. 

So, when Howard agreed to go sailing with him, as a well deserved break from fixing the world, Barnes’ heart soared. To be able to show Howard what the ocean. and sailing meant to him was a gift he had never expected to receive. 

The sun was mostly set by the time Barnes finished, and he joined Howard at the bow of the ship. Howard handed him his brandy glass as he sat next to him, shoulder to shoulder. They stayed like that, watching the stars come out, just enjoying the quiet lap of water against the hull in each other’s company. 

After a while Howard just leaned over and placed his head onto Barnes’ shoulder, and Barnes wrapped his arm around his back, pulling him closer. 

Howard spoke up, in hushed tones, like he didn’t want to break the quiet, “Thank you for bringing me out here. It’s beautiful.” 

Barnes left a kiss in Howard’s hair, before looking back up at the stars, and the rising crescent moon, “It really is.” 

Another few minutes went by, before Howard spoke again, less hushed, “Have you ever had sex on the deck of a ship?”

That surprised genuine laughter from Barnes, he would always marvel at how Howard could achieve that where almost no one else could. “No, Howard, I have not.”

Howard twisted so his head was laying in Barnes’ lap looking up at him, and gave him an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle that was just visible thanks to a combination of the moonlight, and lantern light, “Would you like to?”

Barnes smiled down at him, running one hand through his hair and the other down Howard’s exposed chest, “Always a first time for everything.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come and visit me on tumblr and [twitter!](https://twitter.com/Kristsune)
> 
> i saw an oppritunity with the ship name, so i took it XD


End file.
